Baseball at Clark
Wednesday, April 27 | 3:30 p.m.
Granger Field | Worcester, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 62-21 all-time against Clark in a series that dates back to 1983.
• The Beavers have won five in a row against the Cougars, which includes taking both games of a doubleheader at Granger Field last season.
LAST MEETING
• Sophomore Francis Kiely drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Beavers rallied for a 5-3 win over Clark last Tuesday in Babson Park.
• Senior Thomas Lapham reached base three times and classmate Josh Yellen, junior Jackson Kelly, sophomore Tanner Santos and first-year Justin Guest all drove in a run for the Beavers, who scored twice in the seventh and added two more runs in the eighth.
• Sophomore Anthony LoCasto went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while classmate Maxwell Gitlin gave up three runs and struck out six over 7.0 innings after carrying a no-hitter into the sixth for the Cougars.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (22-10, 11-2 NEWMAC) wrapped up the weekend with a 9-5 loss at Southern Maine on Sunday.
• Junior Patrick Manning homered for the second game in a row, Luca Rubin contributed a two-run double and both Yellen and Santos finished with two hits apiece for the Beavers, who have lost just twice over their last 13 outings.
• Yellen is batting .346 with six extra-base hits, 27 RBI and 26 runs scored, Lapham is hitting .345 with 17 RBI and team-highs of 24 walks, 12 stolen bases and 37 runs scored, and Kiely (.286) leads the squad with seven doubles, three home runs and 27 runs batted in.
• Junior Anthony St. John (4-0, 3.38 ERA), classmate Tim Noone (6-1, 3.43 ERA) and sophomore Tristen Spalter (5-2, 2.86 ERA) boast a 1.11 WHIP and a 4.72 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while junior Stephen McLendon is 2-1 with five saves, a 1.29 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 21.0 innings out of the bullpen.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
• Clark (14-14, 3-10 NEWMAC) is coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of Springfield last weekend.
• LoCasto reached base and scored three times and junior Ryan Caulfield drove in three runs for the Cougars, who suffered an 11-9 loss in the series finale after giving up six runs to the Pride in the eighth inning.
• Sophomore Samuel Farrell is batting .345 with four doubles, five homers and 17 runs batted in, Caulfield is hitting .333 with four extra-base hits, 19 walks, 17 RBI and 17 runs scored, and graduate student Chris Radovic leads the team with 10 extra-base hits and 20 RBI this spring.
• Gitlin (2-2, 5.71 ERA) allowed four runs over 3.0 innings on Saturday against Springfield, junior Casey Gorczyca (1-0, 2.00 ERA) struck out nine in seven shutout innings against Worcester State on April 13 and classmate Max Moss is 0-2 with a 5.16 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 22.2 innings this spring.
STREAKING BEAVERS
• Lapham has reached base in 23 consecutive starts, Yellen has gotten on in each of his last 11 outings and Guest has reached safely in eight consecutive games.
• First-year Walter Sadowsky enters Wednesday's contest riding a 12-game hitting streak and Yellen has a hit in nine straight contests.
GOING THE DISTANCE
• Spalter gave up just two runs while scattering seven hits on the way to recording his first career complete game in Saturday's game-two win over MIT.
• The complete game was also the first by a Babson pitcher since May 6, 2019, when Tyler Bell '21 tossed a shutout against WPI in a NEWMAC Tournament elimination game.
TITLE CHASE HEATS UP
• Babson (11-2) enters the final week of the regular season with a one-game lead over second-place Wheaton (10-3) and a two-game edge over Springfield (9-4) as it looks to clinch at least a share of its fifth consecutive NEWMAC regular season title.
• Following Tuesday's game at Clark, the Beavers open a three-game series against Wheaton on Friday at Govoni Field. The winner is set to be the top seed and host for next week's conference tournament.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers rank second in Division III in both strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.10) and walks allowed per nine innings (1.92) and are 17th nationally in fielding percentage (.971).
• Babson is 18-4 when scoring the first run of the game and 13-1 when putting up a run in the first inning this spring.
• The Beavers are 15-1 when outhitting their opponents.
• The Green and White is 19-2 when allowing five runs or less.
UP NEXT
• Babson wraps up its non-conference slate when it hosts UMass Boston on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
